A Greek MEP had her powers as a vice president of the European Parliament suspended on Saturday over a corruption probe, AFP reported.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola "has decided to suspend with immediate effect all powers, duties and tasks that were delegated to Eva Kaili in her capacity as Vice-President of the European Parliament," a spokesperson said.
Earlier Saturday, Metsola said on Twitter that the parliament "stands firmly against corruption", adding they would so everything they could to "assist the course of justice".
The decision comes one day after socialist MEP Eva Kaili was arrested, hours after four others were detained for questioning over suspected bribery by a Gulf state.
Local media suggested the Gulf state in question was Qatar, according to a report in the BBC, but a Qatari spokesperson said he was unaware of any investigation, and denied misconduct.
The European Parliament's Greens group called for a full investigation into allegations of bribery by Qatar.
"We will not accept business as usual...," the group said, according to AFP. "We must strengthen our rules so this cannot happen again."
In addition to Kaili, at least three of the others arrested were either Italian citizens or originally came from Italy, a source close to the case told AFP.
Kaili, 44, is the partner of one of the four others detained: Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary assistant with the European Parliament's Socialists and Democrats group, said the source.
Former Italian MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, who served as a socialist in the parliament between 2004 and 2019, was also reportedly arrested.
Belgium's federal prosecutor's office said the investigation concerned suspected "corruption" and "money laundering".
In Rome, a government source confirmed to AFP reports that Panzeri's wife and daughter had been detained.